Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, we have been able to learn more about the musical cultures as well as composers from the Baltic states. Baltic music expert Vance Wolverton says, "In each of these nations, there were composers who, like Vaughan Williams in England and Bartok in Hungary, collected folk songs and drew inspiration for their own compositions from folk songs. These artists are universally acknowledged in their homelands as the founding fathers and mothers of the flourishing art music traditions of the Baltics" (Wolverton, 9). The following composers have been selected for their notable use of Estonian folk song in their own compositions or arrangements. The primary focus of this compilation is the choral music output of these composers. An exhaustive list of Estonian composers is available through the Estonian Music Information Center. www.emic.ee/estonian-composers
Rudolf Tobias1873-1918
An Estonian composer and organist who studied at the Moscow Conservatory. Although he did not spend a great deal of his life in Estonia, he was influential as the first Estonian to pursue academic study in composition. He composed the first Estonian symphonic work among other instrumental genre firsts for Estonia. He was also very interested in the preservation of Estonian folk song. Tobias lived for four years in Tartu, Estonia beginning in 1904. More |
Miina Härma1864-1941
Miina Härma was Estonia's first female composer of note. She was widely recognized at home in Estonia and abroad during her lifetime as a composer, organist and choral conductor. She was the second Estonian to receive higher education in music and studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She was influential in founding an Estonian touring choir as well as a children's choir and the Tartu composers' society. More |
Cyrillus Kreek1889-1962
While a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he began collecting Estonian folk music. In 1914, he was one of the first Estonians to use then-modern technology of the phonograph to record folk melodies. His transcriptions included collections of folk hymn tunes and folk music from Estonia's Swedish villages. Kreek's experience with folk music is clearly evident in his own choral and orchestral music. More |
Mart Saar1882-1963
Mart Saar is an important Estonian composer who is considered one of the founders of the Estonian national style. He wrote primarily choral works, solo songs and piano pieces. In the beginning of his career modern compositional techniques epitomized his style, but he was increasingly drawn to folk elements that helped endear his music to the Estonian people. More |
Ester Mägi
b. 1922
Ester Magi was born in Tallinn, Estonia, graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory where she later held a teaching post for thirty years, teaching music theory. Her principal teachers were Mart Saar at Tallinn and Vissarion Shebalin at the Moscow Conservatory. Urve Lippus says, "As a composer, Mägi adopted the values of Saar, one of the founders of an Estonian national style. Her interest in folk music, her settings of Estonian poetry and the suppressed emotionality, sincerity and seriousness of her music all demonstrate this." More |
Veljo Tormisb. 1930
Veljo Tormis is Estonia's most well-known and most important contemporary composer (along with Arvo Pärt). He was born near Tallinn and educated at the Tallinn Conservatory as well as the Moscow Conservatory. His university study was interrupted by World War II. Tormis has said of the role of folk song in his music, “I don’t use folk melody – folk melody uses me.” More |